There are other victims of drug crisis besides the addicts

d.c poses an excellent consideration: “Who are our most vulnerable? Is it the drug addicts that roam our streets or is it those people that suffer from the consequences of those same people’s actions?”
thank you, d.c., for taking the time. allow me to keep on pounding away on this: drug use, nor addiction, cannot be eradicated. (addictions of all types cannot be eradicated; it appears that almost everything humans interact with comes with about a 10% addiction rate). therefore, the approach, needs to change, as does the perspective; and d.c. provides a good perspective with regard to victims.
the fallout of drug addiction is broad, and innocent people are affected by the fallout from certain various addictive behaviours. insofar as drugs, this need not be the case as drugs are ridiculously cheap to produce and use, unless, of course, their production and distribution is left in the hands of scum like big pharm and various other gangster orgs. monopoly drives up cost exponentially, as does risk that arises from draconian and illegal drug laws.
consequently, the feds must rescind what are in fact illegal drug laws. our supreme court has been as lame in ensuring freedom to use drugs as it has been lame in safeguarding fundamental freedoms of all sorts, over the past 40+ years in particular. they must oversee not for profit growth and/or sourcing, and distribution of quality ensured opium and coca leaf for registered addicts, provided free or for a nominal cost based upon ability to pay. it will cost us somewhat, but only a tiny fraction of the costs associated with drug addiction fallout, policing, courts, and prisons.
we will not solve addiction overall, but we can mitigate the social and financial cost substantially. moreover, we can reduce drug addiction because the natural products, plants/shrubs/fungi that societies the world over have been using with little to no fallout for thousands of years, are far less addictive than the poison crap big pharm has been allowed to push, and far less addictive than processed derivatives peddled by organised, thug pushers. when addicts do not need to steal for drugs, our property is much safer.
i know, hard for still too many to comprehend, due to a lifetime of having been lied to about drugs by our govts. a great study of how easy it is to condition people on a mass scale. while prejudices and jaundiced beliefs will make it difficult for many to see the benefits of such an approach, what society has been trying for generations is not working on any level…unless one believes: that fundamental freedoms and human rights have little value; that addicts must suffer to the max; that innocent people must remain victims due to fallout from artificially expensive and even poisonous drugs; that an approach that breeds criminals and lines pockets of organised crime and drug enforcers alike – off the backs of, and, while actually victimising recreational and hardcore users alike, is just or humane; that an absolutely ineffective on every level approach that costs us dearly in life, property, and capital is the path to continue to follow.
even in countries where drug users are summarily executed, another crime against humanity fallout that comes thanks to the ignorant and evil and entirely illegal war on drugs created by the nasty usa, drug use continues. what a brilliant focus, eh. create criminality and undue hardship where none should be simply because of hardcore bias and ignorance. meanwhile, just for perspective sake, human trafficking – little girls and boys, and teens and young adults all held prisoners to satisfy the sexual illnesses of predators – receives a crummy fraction of the resources that drug “enforcement” has been getting. create victims where none should be; and ensure victims where none should be. well done, people!